Bobcats making a comeback in New Hampshire

University of New Hampshire faculty are teaming up with N.H. Fish & Game personnel to trap and tag bobcats, part of a four-year study.

The study aims to determine the bobcat population, their range and how their numbers compare to other states. The once elusive bob-tailed feline with its distinctive tufted ears is making a comeback more than two decades after its hunting was outlawed statewide and they were declared a protected species. At the moment, the area being studied closely is within a 20- to 25-mile radius of Keene, where bobcats were most prevalent before their numbers were brought down to the point where they needed protected status, according to UNH professor of wildlife ecology John Litvaitis.

"Animals are well-distributed throughout the state," he said. "The southeastern part of the state now has bobcats, where 20 years ago it would've been close to seeing Bigfoot."

As of late last month, UNH faculty and students, trappers and Fish & Game personnel involved in the effort had tagged 12 bobcats, collared them and taken small bits of tissue for DNA testing. The first one collared and tracked via satellite, a male, has moved through primarily wooded areas near the town of Sullivan since being tracked.

Four bobcats are fitted with collars that use cell phone towers to call in their locations five times a day with great precision. While that technology is more convenient for researchers, it is in limited use. The other eight are fitted with collars that will release and fall off the animal in September, to be picked up and the data analyzed after that. The cell phone technology is more expensive.

But yes, "the bobcats have phone numbers," he said.

One thing those involved in the effort will attempt to do is figure out a rough population density in the Keene area and statewide. Knowing the bobcats prefer hilly terrain to help escape from enemies, like coyotes, and young forests for hunting, Litvaitis said researchers will use DNA testing on bobcat droppings when possible and recruit enthusiastic residents in the Keene area to set up and monitor remotely triggered cameras that will help them get a better picture of the local populations.

Litvaitis said trappers involved with the project are local to the Keene area and willing to help. Much of the trapping took place once snow was on the ground, Litvaitis said, noting many bobcats find food more scarce in the winter, lose substantial weight and are more willing to take bait. Only full-grown males, who can take down deer by themselves, make it through winter without struggles, and bobcats are showing up in back yards looking for bird feeders and the like much more frequently than 20 years ago. Litvaitis said he's had close to 170 observation reports sent to him the last two years, more or less statewide.

Bobcats are ferocious and strong despite their light weight — the heaviest researchers collared was 37 pounds — and having the trappers to help get the animals into box traps and immobilizing them was a huge help, he added.

Besides coyotes, bobcats have to contend with an unnatural enemy — roads. Litvaitis said bobcats have not adapted completely to roads, noting cats that have to cross busy roads once or twice a week in their travel corridors are unlikely to enjoy long lives.

As the project is a cooperative effort with Fish & Game, Litvaitis said the agency has an interest in how many bobcats the state has compared to surrounding states. The agency hopes that will give it a better sense of how 20 years with protected status affected the animals' distribution and abundance.

According to a paper written by Litvaitis, J.P. Tash and C.L. Stevens in 2005, bobcats were classified as nuisance animals for much of the last 200 years and as many as 100 to 400 animals were hunted or trapped each year in the state. That changed after 1959, when the bobcat harvest hit its peak, and in 1973 the big cat was classified as a game animal.

"In general terms," he said, "our bobcats are at a level of abundance they have not been at for more than 20 years. They've rebounded such that every county in the state (has bobcats)."

BOBCAT WATCH

Those who sight bobcats and wish to report their observations can do so at www.nre.unh.edu/faculty/litvaitis/Research/BobcatWeb/sightings.htm.

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